Hello! This will be my family's 4th trip to WDW!!! We've never been in January before and don't really know what to expect! We've been in October once and May twice, so we are looking forward to lower temperatures and lower crowds!

We don't have any plans set in stone yet, but I am working on it! I think I will wait for the 2009 rates to come out before I do anything. I am looking for airfare already though!

So here's our tentative plans: 7 days/6 nights, January 21 - 27, possibly getting the DDP one more time before DS9 turns 10 and would be charged as an adult!

Going in the winter will be a new experience for us!

Anyone else going in January and want to chat about our plans to make the time go faster???

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My family is planning on going in January 2009 too. We are planning on staying at the Pop from January 25-February 7. We are hoping for a large family gathering but must wait to hear if all have saved enough money.

We have gone twice before, once as a couple, last time in 2006 with kids. The first time we went was at Christmas (never again, too crowded for us) and the last time in 2006 with kids in February through President's Day weekend. We found the time before the weekend good but once the holiday hit and thereafter to be crowded for us.

I hope you have a great time and I would love to hear your ideas. This is the first time at the Pop for us and the first time with the dining plan (what we hope to book). Those last two times we stayed at Fort Wilderness with extended family and ate with them at their trailers. We have only eaten at Garden Grill which is on our list this time, and Trail's End which is good but not on our list to do this time.

I am hoping for small crowds in January too. That's the main reason we are trying January! Plus we are looking forward to not dragging from the heat all day everyday. This year we went in the middle of May and it was in the mid-90's all week! Too hot!

We didn't get the DDP the first time, but got it the on the 2nd & 3rd trip. So we have ate at a lot of the restaurants, TS and CS. As a matter of fact I just got done doing a dining report from May: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1861206

So if you have any questions on Disney restaurants I would be glad to give you my opinions and experiences!

We're in! Our dates are January 21-28. It will be our first visit to WDW. We're staying in a studio at Animal Kingdom Villas. We already have our airfare (actually got a price and flights I'm overjoyed about with NW) and our ressie all set. What a relief! I knew nothing about WDW when I started planning this trip, boy have I learned a lot. My DD8 and I are super excited about the trip, but DH and DD6 aren't into the spirit yet. The only problem we're having right now is that we want to do everything and eat everywhere!!!

Hello, We are going also Jan 17-24th and staying at AKL in a 2br suite. We actually have always gone that time of year. We went last year the first week in Feb and stayed at the POP, when we got back we decided to join DVC and are so excited to be going on our first trip to our home resort

We are using our developer points and are leaving July 24 for our first summer trip as a family and staying at Ft Wilderness. I finally have all my ADR's for this trip and now it is time to start planning the Jan vacation. We are taking the kids out of school for 4 days and celebrating my son's 10th B-day.

We LOVE that time of year, the weather is fabulous as are the crowds, this will be my first experience going on a holiday weekend, so I am sure it will be a little busier. Feel free to ask me any questions, I am getting to be a pro at this disney planning, it is my new hobby, especially the dining part. We are doing the deluxe plan on this summer trip, so we are going to some neat places. WE are also just going to do the water parks and enjoy visiting the resorts. I will enjoy talking with all of you, Evonne

I'm sure you know this, but just a reminder FYI for AKL DVC Jan-April 2009:

"As the development of Kidani Village continues at Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas, crews are preparing to complete the new savanna and acclimate the animals to their new habitat. To accommodate this important process, animals are not scheduled to be on Sunset Savanna from Jan. 15-April 15, 2009.

Members and Guests who reserve a savanna-view room during this time will be advised of this process, and confirmations for those bookings will include a notation to that affect. Approximately 30 days prior to arrival, the resort will determine, based on occupancy and booking date order, which Members will be assigned to a Sunset Savanna view room. Member Services will notify affected Members, who, after their stay, will receive a Vacation Point credit reflecting the difference between a savanna view and standard view. As a reminder, animals on the other savannas can be viewed from multiple public locations at the resort."

Well looks like we've got a few of us going in January! I'm getting very excited!! The best (and hardest) part is that we are not telling our kids until Christmas morning!! It will be their Christmas present! They won't suspect a thing either since we were just there in May. I keep telling them that I'm not sure if we'll even be able to make it in 2009 at all!

Now we need a name for our group (and some more people!). . . The last countdown chat I was in was for May and we called ourselves the MAYers! And this was our sign --> ! The JANUARYers doesn't quite sound right. . . Hmm. . . We'll have to work on that one. . . Anyone got any suggestions??? Would this be our sign --> ??? HaHa it's not that cold in January is it Sixisenough? Please tell us all that you can about January! The weather, the crowds, everything! Is it warm enough for swimming? Do we need to bring winter coats? How long is a normal wait time for a ride/attraction?

January is a good time to visit disney if you don't like crowds, the longest i waited in line for an attraction when i was playing rather than working in the parks was 15 minutes in January and that was at 10am for soaring. The longest wait time i saw on the boards was 45 mins, also for soarin' which at peak times i've seen 180 min plus on the display

We went Jan 07. We had 60 degree days, we had 80 degree days. It was crazy. Check weather.com before you go and pack accordingly. I must say, I would rather have it cooler than warmer. My girls would complain all day if they were hot. No problems with ADRs or waits. It was great.

Yes, we are looking forward to the cooler weather in January! I'm thinking we will be able to cover so much more ground when we are not all so hot and tired from the heat and humidity, even with the shorter park hours in January.

Are there usually a lot of rehabs/closures of major attractions in January?

We have most choices picked out. As you can tell we are going for character meals and kid friendly restaurants.

How do you make your ADRs without knowing the park hours? Disney has yet to release the hours as of last time I checked. I worry that we won't be maximizing the Extra hours and miss out. (I may be over paranoid on this.) We live way up north of Disney,and it is a big expense to us and can only make a trip every 3 years or more.

As for weather, as long as we don't see snow, we are happy. That is another reason on why we have picked January. What may seem cold or chillier to some, may seem warm to us. We can't wait to go.

Any suggestions on our choices. We really liked the Garden Grill but the rest will be a new experience for us.

I'm planning on 7 TS meals (if we do DDP), and unfortunately I have more than 7 ideas: 1900 Park Fare (dinner), Le Cellier (dinner), Boma (breakfast AND dinner), Biergarten (lunch OR dinner), Teppan Edo (dinner), Raglan Road (dinner), O'hana (breakfast), Whispering Canyon Cafe (dinner), Tusker House (breakfast), and Mama Melrose's (dinner). Obviously, this list has to be reduced. If we don't do DDP, this list will shrink very significantly. Some of this will depend on the children's menus as well...I just printed out all of the menus for my DDs/DH to check out.

Someone told me that kids don't always have to order from the children's menu on DDP at counter service. Is that pretty well known? Did you have that happen everywhere or just some places? Did anyone give you a hassle about it (because the brochure states in both the CS and TS areas that children must order from children's menu where available)?

Good evening~The weather can be in the 70-80's (what we had this past trip), but it can get cool in evenings, 60's, even 50's. It is is such a pleasant escape from Illinois weather. My kids always swim, the pools are heated, they like to go at night. It is too cold for me, so that is when hubby and I get some poolside drinks and watch them wear themselves out for bed.
Even if park hours are not posted, go ahead and make your ADR's for what you think it will be, you can always change. Last year the only one we had a problem with was Garden Grille, it was supposed to be our first night and our plane was delayed due to lovely Chicago weather, so we missed it and were not able to get an ADR for the rest of the trip. My son wants to go there for his B-day this time, so I will be making right away. You can pretty much plan on Epcot being open until at least 9pm. AK will close at 5 that time of year, except for the Extra Magic hour, MK will be open till 9 or 10 on weekends, but will close between 7-8 during week. We did enjoy the Magic evening there, the park closed at 7 and stayed open until 11 for resort guests, we got Dumbo out of the way with about a 20 min wait, which is very good that late
in the day.
As far as using the kids CS meals, at Cosmic Rays, my son was able to order off the adult menu, but I believe that was the only one we tried at. They keep separate tabs on your receipts. Has anyone done the deluxe plan before??
I will give you some reviews when we get back, we leave in 3 weeks and are doing alot of the resort restraunts this trip, Park Fare, Narcosses, Citricos, HDR, Whispering Canyon (my son has requested to do this one again, he loved the skillet!!!), Beaches and Cream(which is one of our Family's favs, 3rd time here), Ohanas, Konas, Trails End, Olivias, Captain Jacks,Bomas, Jikos, ESPN Club..... You can see this trip is all about the food, I don't want to even know how much weight I am going to gain.

Some of other good experiences last trip was at Tusker House-great characters, my daughters loved it and it was great to go to AK when no one was there, so beautiful and peaceful. UK counter service, great fish and chips, great atmosphere there. Crystal Palace was fun as always, but very crazy. We did not enjoy the POP food court, not a good idea to do when your are trying to get off for the day, unless you are very early morning people. Cali Grill treated us wonderful with kids, but disappointed the fireworks had been changed, so we did not get to see those from the view.

That;s all for now, time for some sleep, I have such a hard time getting off the Dis at night.

Just found the thread! Very excited for our January trip (If only the park hours were posted lol)

We'll be there for a 2 week dream vacation Jan 17-31. We took the plunge and bought DVC in '07 and have pooled the points since then (and borrowed some) to really have a fun time.

From Jan 17-24 it's me, my mom and dad staying in a 1 bedroom Boardwalk View (Boadwalk Villas) Which we've never even seen before so we're all looking forward to that. (all the pictures we've seen have been so pretty)

The following week Jan 24-31 we go back to our home at AKV. We spent one night there before our cruise this past Jan and are so happy to call it home. For this week were staying in a 2 bedroom savannah view and my aunt and uncle are coming as well.

We've got our airfare already so other then making ADR's... we just wait (197 days and counting!)

Just found the thread! Very excited for our January trip (If only the park hours were posted lol)

We'll be there for a 2 week dream vacation Jan 17-31. We took the plunge and bought DVC in '07 and have pooled the points since then (and borrowed some) to really have a fun time.

From Jan 17-24 it's me, my mom and dad staying in a 1 bedroom Boardwalk View (Boadwalk Villas) Which we've never even seen before so we're all looking forward to that. (all the pictures we've seen have been so pretty)

The following week Jan 24-31 we go back to our home at AKV. We spent one night there before our cruise this past Jan and are so happy to call it home. For this week were staying in a 2 bedroom savannah view and my aunt and uncle are coming as well.

We've got our airfare already so other then making ADR's... we just wait (197 days and counting!)

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We are arriving the same day you are, but will be at AKV til the 24th in a savannah room also. We also plunged and bought AKV and are so excited. WE also bought our airline tickets and so glad we did with the way prices are heading.

We have most choices picked out. As you can tell we are going for character meals and kid friendly restaurants.

How do you make your ADRs without knowing the park hours? Disney has yet to release the hours as of last time I checked. I worry that we won't be maximizing the Extra hours and miss out. (I may be over paranoid on this.) We live way up north of Disney,and it is a big expense to us and can only make a trip every 3 years or more.

As for weather, as long as we don't see snow, we are happy. That is another reason on why we have picked January. What may seem cold or chillier to some, may seem warm to us. We can't wait to go.

Any suggestions on our choices. We really liked the Garden Grill but the rest will be a new experience for us.

Thanks Remmy

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Those look like some excellent restaurant choices! We've been to several of them. Character meals and buffets seem to be the best choices for us too!

I'm not sure how we are supposed to make our ADR's without park hours. . . I've never had this situation before, the hours have always been posted.

I'm with you on the weather. Some people keep telling me that it might be really cold in January. Being from PA I don't really think FL weather in January is going to seem cold to us! I'm just hoping for a few days warm enough for the boys to be able to swim.

I'm planning on 7 TS meals (if we do DDP), and unfortunately I have more than 7 ideas: 1900 Park Fare (dinner), Le Cellier (dinner), Boma (breakfast AND dinner), Biergarten (lunch OR dinner), Teppan Edo (dinner), Raglan Road (dinner), O'hana (breakfast), Whispering Canyon Cafe (dinner), Tusker House (breakfast), and Mama Melrose's (dinner). Obviously, this list has to be reduced. If we don't do DDP, this list will shrink very significantly. Some of this will depend on the children's menus as well...I just printed out all of the menus for my DDs/DH to check out.

Someone told me that kids don't always have to order from the children's menu on DDP at counter service. Is that pretty well known? Did you have that happen everywhere or just some places? Did anyone give you a hassle about it (because the brochure states in both the CS and TS areas that children must order from children's menu where available)?

I guess that's it for now. Have a great long weekend everybody!

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Good luck narrowing that list down!!

Yep, we have ordered the kids whatever they want at CS restaurants. Never been questioned once. And we only do it when there isn't anything on the kids menu that they want.(sometimes there are only 3 choices) Generally at the CS's you walk through a very crowded line and then get to a CM who takes your order. They don't know who is in your party and they really don't care! Then you move further up the line and wait for your food. Plus I don't think Disney is too worried about it because they don't differentiate CS meals on the receipt. After every meal at the bottom of the receipt it tells you how many remaining credits you have left for that type of meal. We started out with 28 TS credits and 28 CS credits. After our first TS meal at Mama Melrose our receipt says 12 Adult TS remain, 12 Child TS remain (24 total). After our first CS meal at Pepper Market it says 24 CS remain. See what I mean??? I was even told by the concierge at POFQ last year that the CS meals didn't matter!